Fountain pen



H. QUAN FOUNTAIN PEN Jan. 18, 1949.

Filed Feb. 1, 1945 Inventor ,flrberi 67. Qaan A/ WWW fim Patented Jan. 18, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FOUNTAIN PEN Herbert Q. Quan, LosAngeles, Calif.

Application February 1, 1945, Serial No. 575,609

6 Claims. 1

This invention relates :to fountain pens of the stylograph type, whereinwa, stylus is employed as the writing point.

An important object of thepresent invention is to provide a fountain pen of the above kind which is capable of holding a maximum quantity of Writing ink,.and which is refillable in a mini mum of time and by a simple operation;

"ling the flow of ink to the stylus.

Still another object of the invention isto provide a. fountain pen of the above character in.- cluding a novel form of stylus, and wherein the stylus is carried by the combined :piston and ink-flow control valve of the filler means.

More specific objects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawing, and the invention consists in the novel form, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, shown in the drawing and claimed.

In the drawing, wherein like reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views:

Figure 1 is an inverted central longitudinal sectional view of a fountain pen constructed in ac zordancevvith the present invention.

Figure? is a developed perspective view, drawn on a reduced scale, and illustrating the fountain pen of Figure 1 together with a protecting cap for the stylus end of the pen.

Figure 31's an enlarged perspective view of the stylus.

Figure 4 is an end view looking at the outer end or the stylus shown in 'Figure"3 and drawn on a still larger scale, and

Figure 5 is a transverse section taken on line 5--5 of Figure l.

. Referring in detail to the drawing, the present fountain pen includes a hollow barrel5 aifordinga chamber 6 to receive an ink supply. The bore f the barrel 5 is tapered smaller in a downward direction, as at l, to provideavalvc seat and to lead the ink'to the stylus 8 projecting through an axial cylindrical opening 9 provided in this end of the barrel.

Arranged in the barrel 5 is a valved piston including a body composed of a stem IE having a tapered valvehead H on its lower end and a stop member in the form of a cross bar i2 on its upper end. A flexible resilient piston ring l3, of

circular and relatively large cross-sectional diameter, is slidahly and loosely disposed on the stem H3 between the valve head H and cross bar 92 The cross bar i2 is of a Width less than the internal diameter of the piston ring 53 so as to not close the central opening of the latter. Thevalve head H has a tapered upper portion M adapted-to enter the central opening of piston ring [3 when the valved piston is moved upwardly, so as to expand said piston ring l3 into snug contact with the inner surface of the barrel and to effectively close the opening through the piston ring so that ink will be drawn into the barrel through the opening 3 and from a suitable source of ink supply or ink bottle, for filling the barrel. Upon subsequent movement of the valved piston toward the seat l with the pen inverted, the piston ring it will assume a position spaced from the valve head H, as shown in Figure l, permitting the ink to pass through the piston ring so that said ink will not be expelled from the barrel as long as the valved piston is moved at a slow rateof speed.

The stylus 8 consists of a slender, elongated,

cylindrical member having a threaded upper end 15 detachably screwed into a central threaded socket provided. in the bottom of the valve head i l, saidstylus being provided with a central longitudinal cross-cut or slot it that extends from the lower end of the stylus to a point intermediate the ends of the latter and provides for location of the upper end of the cross-cut or slot 56 above the opening i and within the tapered bore portion I of the barrel when the stylus positioned for use with its lower end projecting beyond "the lower end of the barrel. The cross-cut or slot it permits flow of ink to the tip of the stylus and allows air to enter the pen barrel when the valve head is unseated relative to the tapered bore portion 7. t its lower end, the stylus 8 is provided. with additional crossed slots or grooves El that are relatively shallow and facilitate distribution of the ink to the tip of the stylus so that it can write in any position. The lower end of the stylus may be slightly tapered and rounded, as shown, or it may be tapered more to a point, as desired.

The valved piston is attached suitably to the lower'end of a piston rod [8 that is disposed axially of the barrel and is equipped at its upper end with a threaded plug 19 detachably screwed in the upper end of the barrel 5, as at 20. The arrangement is such that when the plug I9 is fully threaded into the barrel 5, the valve head H engages the tapered bore portion 1 so as to prevent flow of ink from the barrel above the valve head H to the stylus 8 below the valve head I I. On the other hand, by partially threading the plug 9 outwardly of the barrel 5, the valve head H may be unseated, more or less, for regulating the flow of ink to the stylus. Due to the frictional engagement of piston ring 13 with the inner surface of the barrel, it will not lower by gravity into contact with the valve head II from the position of Figure 1, thereby insuring fiow of ink through the piston ring l3 except when the valved piston is pulled upwardly, as previously described, for filling the barrel. Obviously, in order to perform the filling operation, the plug. l9 must be completely unscrewed from the barrel, whereupon further upward movement of the valved piston and valve may be freely had for filling the barrel with ink. Due to the cylindrical form of the stem l0, valve head II and stylus 8, rotation of these parts relative to the barrel is permitted when threading the plug l9 into or out of the barrel. The stylus, of course, moves with the valved piston and valve, being sufiiciently projected for writing purposes when the valve head H is slightly unseated. A' conventional protecting cap 2i may be provided for covering the point end of the fountain pen when the latter is not in use. This cap may be adapted to have a snug frictional fit over the lower end of the barrel, and may be provided with a conventional clasp 22 for the usual purpose.

From the foregoing description, it is believed that the construction and operation, as well as the advantages, of the present invention will be readily understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art. It will be evident that I have provided a very simple, compact and durable pen construction of the character described and one which may be efficiently used to carry out the stated objects of the invention. At the same time, filling of the pen is made possible Without soiling the fingers or requiring the provision of a special ink bottle. Minor changes in the details of construction illustrated and described are contemplated, such as fairly fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed, A gasket 23 is carried by plug [9 to prevent leakage of ink from the adjacent end of the barrel when the plug is screwed home.

What I claim is:

l. A fountain pen including a hollow barrel having a central opening and an internal valve seat at its lower end, a valved barrel-refilling piston movable in the barrel and including a body having a bottom valve head arranged to cooperate with said valve seat to control the flow of ink from the barrel, said valved piston being constructed to draw ink into the barrel upon up ward movement thereof and to permit passage of ink past the same upon downward movement thereof, a stylus attached to and depending from the valve head and projecting through the central opening of the barrel, a piston rod attached to the piston body and extending toward the upper end of the barrel, and means operable from the upper end of the barrel to actuate the piston rod for longitudinally adjusting or reciprocating the valved piston.

2. A stylographic fountain pen comprising a hollow barrel having a central cylindrical opening through its lower end and having the bore thereof tapered at its lower end and smaller downwardly to merge with the central opening, a valved barrel-refilling piston arranged in the barrel, the piston being adapted to draw ink into the bottle upon upward movement thereof and to permit passage of ink past the same upon downward movement thereof, the piston including a body having a body valve head arranged to seat in the tapered portion of the bore to prevent flow of ink from thebarrel to said central opening, a stylus attached to and depending from the valve head, said stylus rotatably fitting in and projecting through said central opening, a piston rod attached at its lower end to the piston body and extending upwardly to the upper end of the barrel, and a threaded plug attached to the upper end of the rod and removably threaded in the upper end of the barrel.

3. A stylographic fountain pen comprising a hollow barrel having a central cylindrical opening through its lower end and having the bore thereof tapered at its lower end and smaller downwardly to merge with the central opening, a valved barrel-refilling piston arranged in the barrel, the piston being adapted to draw ink into the barrel upon upward movement thereof and to permit passage of ink past the same upon downward movement thereof, the piston including a body having a bottom valve head arranged to seat in the tapered portion of the bore to prevent flow of ink from the barrel to said central opening, a stylus attached to and dependin from the valve head, said stylus rotatably fitting in and projecting through said central opening, a iston rod attached at its lower end to the piston body and extending upwardly to the upper end of the barrel, a threaded plug attached to the upper end of the rod and removably threaded in the upper end of the barrel, said valve head having a tapered upper portion, and said piston including a flexible resilient piston ring engageable by the tapered upper portion of the valve head for closing the central opening of the piston ring upon upward movement of the piston and simultaneously expanding said piston ring into snug engagement with the inner surface of the barrel, said piston body further including a stem on which said piston ring is slidably fitted for movement toward or from the tapered upper portion of the valve head, said stem being of smaller diameter than the central opening through the piston ring, and stop means on the upper end of the stem above the piston ring.

4. In a stylographic fountain pen, a stylus comprising a solid slender elongated cylindrical memher. having an upper threaded attaching portion and provided in its lower portion and substantially for one-half its length with an elongated central longitudinal cross-cut, the lower end of the stylus being tapered and provided with additional short crossed slots therein.

5. A stylographic fountain pen comprising a hollow barrel provided at its lower end with a restricted axial opening and formed adjacent said end with an internal valve seat, a valved piston reciprocable in the barrel and operable to draw ink into the barrel through said opening when moved away from said seat and to allow the ink in the barrel to freely pass the same when moved toward said seat, said piston including a body member carrying a piston ring, the lower portion of said body memberincluding a bottom valve head engageablewith and adjustable from said seat to respectively prevent and control the flow of ink from the barrel through said opening,

a stylus fixed to said valve head and arranged to project through said opening when said valve head is disposed adjacent said seat and to be withdrawn from said opening when the piston is moved to draw ink into the barrel, a rod attached to the body member of the piston and operable from the upper end of the barrel to reciprocate said piston, and a threaded plug attached to the upper end of the rod and removably screwed into the upper end of the barrel so as to be adjusted for engaging the valve head with or adjusting it from the seat.

6. The construction defined in claim 5 wherein said body member of the piston further embodies a stem having the valve head on its lower end and provided at the upper end with a stop member, said piston ring having frictional contact with the barrel\ and being loosely disclosed on and movable longitudinal of the stem between the valve head and the stop member, the upper 20 end of the valve head being tapered to close and expand the piston ring when the piston is moved to draw ink into the barrel.

HERBERT Q. QUAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 19 Number Name Date 116,808 Childs July 11, 1871 226,924 Nimmo Apr. 27, 1880 229,336 Seybold June 29, 1880 250,937 Miller Dec. 13, 1881 15 739,319 Jones Sept. 22, 1903 809,442 Hinkley Jan. 9, 1906 1,220,929 Boltzley Mar. 27, 1917 1,262,547 Nedland Apr. 9, 1918 1,621,450 'Aramian Mar. 15, 1927 2,149,557 Snodgrass Mar. 7, 1939 

